During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, there was a villager Cheng Jia in Shaoxing County, Zhejiang Province. When he was a teenager, he made a living in the capital and learned to be a silversmith. Because of his ingenuity, the jewelry he created was very novel and ingenious. For a while, the jewels used by princes and nobles in the capital was not proud of being from Cheng Jia.

Therefore, Cheng Jia often went into and out of Zhu Sect, and accumulated tens of thousands of family assets. Cheng Jia had a sister named Wan Gu, who had always been loved by her brother. After becoming an adult, she grew into a beautiful woman like flowers and jade.

Wan Gu was married to Ding Le from her parents when she was a child. Ding Le was a humble man who was unable to come to the capital to welcome his relatives, and Cheng Jia could not escort her sister back to her hometown due to her busy work. Seeing that the wedding day was imminent, Cheng Jia kept this matter in his heart.

At that time, Cheng Jia's cousin Zhu Xiaolian went to Beijing for the test and stayed at his house. At the end of the test, Zhu Xiaolian failed in the test room and lost his name. He packed his bags and was ready to return to his hometown. Cheng Jia set up a sumptuous banquet to send him off.

After three rounds of wine, Cheng Jia held out a piece of silver with a Zhu plate, put it on the table, and said very sincerely, "Brother Yu has a matter on his mind, which has been lingering for a long time, but he has not found the right person. Now that I am fortunate to meet my cousin, I can fulfill my wish."

Cheng Jia took this opportunity to tell Zhu Xiaolian that he would entrust Wan Gu to him, and said that he could not personally send her back to her hometown to complete the marriage, so he must try his best to help and so on.

Zhu Xiaolian saw that his brother and sister were deeply in love and unusual, so he resolutely agreed. Zhu Xiaolian escorted Wan Gu, staying overnight by day, all the way to Zhejiang. Zhu Xiaolian first stayed at Wan Gu's home for a few days, then chose an auspicious day to send her to her husband's house.

Because she had been away for many years, Wan Gu couldn't even remember what her future husband looked like. Besides, Ding Le's family was rare, and only Gao Tang's mother was alone. On the morning after the wedding, Wan Gu got up to wash up, and suddenly found her husband and mother-in-law killed in the stove!

She screamed in fear, and the neighbors ran over together, guessing who the murderer was. There were different opinions, so the village security guard rushed to the official office to report.

The county magistrate of Shaoxing was surnamed Hang. When he was young, he won the imperial examination and became a county official. He has always been shrewd and capable and conceited.

He then detained Wan Gu and Zhu Xiaolian in court. When he asked them if they had returned from the capital to the countryside together, he couldn't help but be furious and shouted sharply, "The case is clear, do you need to ask more questions?

The county magistrate also ordered the hidden woman to test the body of Wan Gu, and it was indeed not perfect; Hangzhi County saw that his speculation was right, and said even more proudly: "How about it? What I said wasn't bad at all!" He used torture in the courtroom and coerced the confession of the two.

Cheng and Zhu had no choice but to commit murder after enduring such a lash, and the case was quickly settled. Wan Gu and Zhu Xiaolian were both taken to the downtown area to be beheaded. At that time, everyone inside and outside Shaoxing City praised the god of Hang Gong for solving the case, and cursed Wan Gu and Xiaolian for their human faces and beast hearts.

After Cheng Jia heard the bad news in the capital, he was both surprised and annoyed. He thought that since both of them had done something indecent, they deserved it.

I also thought that Wan Gu and I have been dependent on each other for more than ten years since childhood, and have always strictly adhered to the boudoir training, never exceeding the limit. Besides, my cousin is also young and mature, and his conduct is extremely positive. How could he suddenly commit such a crime of sexual intercourse and murdering his husband?

Cheng Jia thought hard for a long time, but could not find a reasonable explanation. This year was the Qingming Festival again. Cheng Jia wanted to go back to visit the ancestral graves, so he temporarily handed over the store to others, dressed up and went south, and wanted to take this opportunity to investigate the details of the murder.

Cheng Jia was a famous craftsman in the capital, and he had many contacts with wealthy merchants in the northern highways. On this day, he stayed overnight in a business in Deqing County, chatting with the owner for entertainment, when he suddenly saw the shopkeeper take a gold bracelet to ask the owner: "The owner, this gold bracelet is exquisitely made, but because the owner's price is very high, the villain dare not take the lead, so I specially ask the owner to signal whether to stay or leave."

Cheng Jia saw the golden bracelet from the side and felt familiar. He borrowed it and took a closer look. He was taken aback and said to the owner, "This bracelet is a dowry given to my sister.

So he told the owner about the injustice of his sister and cousin, and asked the shopmates to try to keep the people in the store, while he went to the local government to complain.

The county magistrate of Deqing immediately ordered the police to detain the people from the dianchuan, and after the first trial, he confessed the truth: Cheng Jia had specially made a lot of gold bracelets for her because Ding Le's family was poor and he was afraid that his sister would suffer after marrying, and there were about a thousand taels of dowry.

This typical person was originally a thief in Kyoto. He heard about it from nowhere, so he followed Cheng and Zhu all the way to Zhejiang.

On the day of the wedding, Ding Le's family was poor, and after the husband and wife saluted, the guests left one after another to go home. The thief was in a mess and secretly lurked in the kitchen. At this time, Ding's mother happened to go to the kitchen to check the things and see the thief's whereabouts. The thief jumped out of the darkness and hacked her to death with a knife.

Ding Le heard an abnormal noise in the kitchen and lit a candle to see the movement. The thief was afraid that he would shout out, so he simply did not do two things, and aimed another knife at Ding Le.

Afterwards, the thief changed into Ding Le's clothes and entered the new house with candles. Aunt Wan had just arrived and was wearing a red veil. She was too embarrassed to see the groom.

After the two of them went to bed, the big thief abducted Gu Wan with gentle words and said, "I heard that there are a few gold bracelets in the dowry given by your brother, which are very delicate. Can you take them out for me to feast my eyes on?"

Wan Gu was an infatuated woman. She only thought that he was her husband. What else could she hide? She took out all the gold bracelets and gave them to this heartless thief.

The thief was elated and pretended to praise the golden bracelet. At dawn, seeing that Aunt Wan was still asleep, he stole all her jewelry and absconded.

After the robber's confession had all gone through, the county magistrate sent the case to the state capital, and the text was transferred to Zhejiang for disposal. Finally, even the emperor found out about the matter and was furious. As a result, in addition to the murderer, the robber was punished by a long delay, and the Hangzhi County who was directly responsible for the injustice of Wan Gu was dismissed and executed.

Some other officials, big and small, who were on trial in this case, from the governor's platform down, were severely punished. At this point, Wan Gu's ghost was comforted.